Objective: The objective of this study was to validate the 'Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy-Spiritual-Well-being-Expanded(FACIT-SpEx) Version 4' tool in Malayalam and assess its feasibility among advanced cancer patients receiving palliative care.
Materials And Methods: The study was carried out at the outpatient Department of Cancer Palliative Medicine of Malabar Cancer Centre between November 2022 and June 2023. Initially, the FACIT-Sp-Ex version 4 tool with 23 items was translated into the Malayalam language with a forward-backward translation procedure.
Background: Little information exists about the association between alcohol and tobacco use and self-reported depressed mood, such as feeling sad, blue, or depressed days (SBDD), among older adults in India.
Aim: The aim of this study was to examine the association between alcohol and tobacco use and self-reported depressed mood with SBDD among older adults in India.
Methods: This study uses the Longitudinal Aging Study India (LASI) Wave 1 dataset of 10,487 respondents identified with self-reported mood disorders with SBDD.
Perovskite quantum dots (QDs) have been widely investigated for their excellent properties such as high color purity in displays, tunable emission wavelength, and high photoluminescence quantum yield. For device applications, improving the stability is an area of interest. In this study, the effects of UV irradiation on the structural and luminescence properties of CsPbBr3 perovskite quantum dots (CPB QDs) excited at 365 nm were investigated.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Palliative care is seldom integrated in healthcare in fragile, conflict affected and vulnerable settings with significant refugee populations.
Aim: This study aimed to evaluate the integration of palliative care into a fragile, conflict affected and vulnerable community in Northern Uganda.
Design: Consecutive Rapid Participatory Appraisals were conducted to evaluate the integration of palliative care in Adjumani District.
Objective: The objective of this scoping review will be to identify and map the characteristics of participatory research approaches in mental health care services conducted in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).
Introduction: Developing countries have a treatment gap of 76% to 85% for mental disorders. Participatory research can help understand community perspectives, which, in turn, helps develop sustainable, contextually specific services.
Healthcare personnel who deal with COVID-19 experience stigma. There is a lack of national-level representative qualitative data to study COVID-19-related stigma among healthcare workers in India. The present study explores factors associated with stigma and manifestations experienced by Indian healthcare workers involved in COVID-19 management.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPhotonic crystals (PhC) formed by 2-D non-Moiré geometries are realized in this work. Non-Moiré (NM) tiles are the contours of trigonometric functions that generate exciting shapes and geometries. Photonic bandstructure calculations reveal that 2-D NM geometries exhibit new avenues of photonic bandgaps compared to the regular circular rod-based PhCs.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWellcome Open Res
August 2022
Heart failure (HF) is a multi-morbid chronic condition, which adversely affects the quality of life of the affected individual. Engaging the patient and their caregivers in self-care is known to reduce mortality, rehospitalisation and improve quality of life among HF patients. The PACT-HF trial will answer whether clinical benefits in terms of mortality and hospitalisation outcomes can be demonstrated by using a pragmatic design to explore the specific effects of physical activity, and cognitive behavioural therapy in HF patients in India.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe notion of 'mental health literacy' has been proposed as a way of improving mental health problem recognition, service utilisation and reducing stigma. Yet, the idea embodies a number of medical-model assumptions which are often at odds with diverse communities' spiritual traditions and local belief systems. Twenty participants were recruited to this study consisting of mental health service users (N = 7), family carers (N = 8) and community members (N = 5) in a temple town in Kerala, South India participated in semi-structured interviews exploring the variety of beliefs and practices relating to mental health.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: Palliative psychiatry is a new approach for the care of patients with severe and persistent mental illness (SPMI) which systematically considers biological, psychological, social, and existential factors of care. To assess the attitudes of psychiatrists in India toward palliative psychiatry for patients with SPMI and to compare these to the attitudes of psychiatrists in Switzerland.
Methods: In an online survey, data from 206 psychiatrists in India were collected and compared with data from a previous survey among 457 psychiatrists in Switzerland.
Background: The concept of stigma has been widely used to understand patterns of discrimination and negative ideas surrounding people with mental health problems, yet we know little of the specific nuances of how this might operate beyond the 'Global North'.
Aim: This paper aims to explore the notion of stigma in an Indian context by considering the lived experience of patients, carers and community members.
Methods: A sample of 204 participants, representing mental health patients, informal carers and community members was recruited from urban and rural areas in Kerala, India.
Background: COVID-19 has inundated the entire world disrupting the lives of millions of people. The pandemic has stressed the healthcare system of India impacting the psychological status and functioning of health care workers. The aim of this study is to determine the burnout levels and factors associated with the risk of psychological distress among healthcare workers (HCW) engaged in the management of COVID 19 in India.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCommunity mental health systems worldwide have undergone transformation in order to accommodate enormous demands of the pandemic and its mitigation efforts. The pandemic created unprecedented challenges that required Mehac Foundation (further referred as Mehac), a not for profit organization based in Kerala, to reassess our care delivery model. The aim of this report is to present a flexible, need-based biopsychosocial response; a case study effectuated by the Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) with a focus on minimizing the impact of COVID 19 on vulnerable communities, while adhering to timely regulations issued by the government.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground & Objectives: The healthcare system across the world has been overburdened due to the COVID-19 pandemic impacting healthcare workers (HCWs) in different ways. The present study provides an insight into the psychosocial challenges faced by the HCWs related to their work, family and personal well-being and the associated stigmas. Additionally, the coping mechanisms adopted by them and their perceptions on the interventions to address these challenges were also explored.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Psychological symptoms are common in women with breast cancer and profoundly affect their role in the family and wider community, varying across cultural backgrounds. Breast cancer is becoming the most common cancer among women in India. We aimed to understand the cultural context within which Indian women with breast cancer living in India, experience psychological concerns from the perspectives of healthcare professionals, volunteers and church members.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: Chronic breathlessness syndrome has been defined to help clinicians actively seek, and patients legitimately present with, persistent breathlessness, and to drive services and research. However, views from low- to middle-income countries were not included. We aimed to explore the views of hospital physicians regarding chronic breathlessness syndrome, its recognition and management.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn a resource-poor country like India, where the health-care systems are difficult to access, overburdened, and unaffordable to many, the impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic can be devastating. The increased burden of serious health-related suffering can impact the well-being of health-care workers, patients, and their families alike. The elderly, the frail, the vulnerable, and those with multiple comorbidities are disproportionately affected.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Palliative care has an important role to play in the global coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. It is integrated and is a key component in the governmental and community structures and services in Kerala, in India. Palliative care in the state has grown to be a viable model recognized in global palliative care and public health scene.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Breast cancer is the commonest form of cancer among women globally, including in India. The rising incidence in the developing world is thought to be due to increased life expectancy, urbanisation, and adoption of western lifestyles. A recent systematic review found that Indian women living in India or as immigrants in Canada experienced a range of psychological distresses both ameliorated and exacerbated by cultural issues personally, within the family, within their community, and in the context of faith, and only two of the five qualitative studies explored the experience of women with breast cancer living in India.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe dispersion properties of metamaterials and photonic crystals (PhCs) lead to an intensive research in the development of cavity resonators for the confinement of electromagnetic (e-m) radiation. In this work, we investigate the formation of Fabry-Pérot (FP) modes associated with hyperbolic-like dispersion (HLD) regimes in two-dimensional dielectric PhCs. Conventionally, FP modes are formed using an optical etalon, in which electromagnetic (e-m) waves reflecting from a partially reflecting mirror separated by a distance can interfere constructively and form a resonating mode.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Breast cancer is becoming the most common cancer among women of Indian origin. However, little is known about the psychological impact of the disease and its treatment among this population.
Aim: To improve understanding of psychological symptoms among Indian women with breast cancer.
Context: The International Association for Hospice and Palliative Care developed a consensus-based definition of palliative care (PC) that focuses on the relief of serious health-related suffering, a concept put forward by the Lancet Commission Global Access to Palliative Care and Pain Relief.
Objective: The main objective of this article is to present the research behind the new definition.
Methods: The three-phased consensus process involved health care workers from countries in all income levels.
Asymmetric transmission (AT) for circularly polarized (CP) electromagnetic (e-m) waves in chiral metamaterial (CMM) is a well-known phenomenon. However, most of the CMMs exhibit AT along only one direction. In this work, AT for CP waves with a magnitude of more than 0.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF